We Are Klang

They're not The Conchords, they're not The Young Ones, they're not (if you're really old) The Goodies. They are We Are Klang. But their show is like someone had forced the aforementioned trio of comedy legends into a blender and pushed the dial to max for twice the recommended time. The frenzy level at the start was quite exhausting.

If this first episode of a comedy about a trio of clueless council officials was a footie match, it had a rubbish first half. But the Klangs unexpectedly hit their stride with a truly disturbing, knicker-scratching Tracy Emin spoof. Best bit was a rhyme-crazed musical extravaganza about what you do when you're a Jew (you play the kazoo), which was as mental as Yentl.

Chortle's We Are Klang Review

What TV always struggles to do is to capture the true anarchy of a live performance, and that's what hits them here. The screen can't convey the joyously unpredictable feeling of being trapped in the same room as three loveable, but slightly scary, comics who are quite happy to go off script.

A trio who are feted on the live circuit bring their orchestrated stupidity to TV, spewing out slapstick, songs, arch references and quick gags in a mashed sitcom about a bad local council. It's aggressive nonsense in the vein of Reeves and Mortimer or... I'd say Rik Mayall or The Goodies, but Klang get there first by namechecking both. They also corpse freely, gurn at the lens and feed off the studio audience, trying hard to push that live buzz through the screen. Flying out of this whirlwind are some peachy gags: "Incompetence is at its highest level since records were lost!"

We Are Klang - Episode 1 Review

As with The Mighty Boosh, We Are Klang operate in a sphere that's less comedy, more a kind of children's programming for bewildered adults. Long a fixture on the Edinburgh comedy fringe, here the three members of Klang appear as the dysfunctional council employees of Klangtown, and when the town mascot disappears, the trio embark on a vaguely surreal journey of Reeves and Mortimer-style comedy and comic song. Not so many actual jokes, to be honest, but a certain rapport with the studio audience is happily in evidence.

Idiotic, silly, funny, annoying: the comedy trio We Are Klang are all these. Their show, set in the fictional council offices of Klangbury, is part sitcom, part physical comedy as incompetent council leader Greg (Greg Davies), simpleton councillor Marek (Marek Larwood) and sociopath Steve (Steve Hall) go about their business.

Comedy circuit stalwarts get their own show. They are Greg Davies (the brilliantly hateful head of Sixth Form in The Inbetweeners), Steve Hall and Marek Larwood and you will have seen them on various TV sketch shows at some point. This six-part sitcom is set in a council office and is distinctly old skool - live studio aud, physical comedy, japes, etc. To give you an idea of the tone: at one point, a character is hit in the nuts with a hammer, and you might also notice the audience being hit around the head with the jokes. That being said, it has its moments, and if you enjoyed Bottom or The Young Ones, then this is an amusing-enough half an hour.

We Are Klang Interview

The comedy trio We Are Klang tell TheLondonPaper about their old-school sitcom, being hit in the crotch with a mallet, and dropping their pants on stage...

The latest cult heroes from the live comedy circuit to land on BBC3 is this sketch outfit, whose ramshackle shows are endearing and wonderful. Here they have added a narrative arc to things - they play three inept town councillors - but their madcap spirit still thrives in the TV studio. The audience are a part of the action, ludicrous set-pieces include a Tracey Emin impression and a song about Jews, and the slapstick reminds us of Bottom... always a fine thing.

Anarchic live comedy trio We Are Klang transfer their oddball humour to the screen in their first TV series which sees them playing members of inept Klangbury Town Council (actually Stalybridge, Greater Manchester).

"Anarchic" and "oddball" are of course euphemisms for "Sorry, I just don't get this."

Their fans from the comedy circuit might be curious to see it - and based on the fact that the studio audience mostly seemed to be enjoying themselves, they do appear to have fans.

One musical number in which they rip off Flight Of The Conchords' unique selling point works pretty well. But otherwise we must conclude that bearing a passing resemblance to a fat Rik Mayall is now apparently enough to get you your own comedy show on BBC3.

Marek Larwood Interview

Tonight, mighty sketch trio We Are Klang make that precarious but potentially stupendous leap from the circuit to TV, when their debut TV series begins on BBC3, 10.30pm. Marek Larwood is counting the minutes.